Disability doesn't discriminate: health inequities at the intersection of race and disability

Brooke Dorsey Holliman; Michelle Stransky; Nathalie Dieujuste; Megan Morris

doi:10.3389/fresc.2023.1075775

Disability doesn't discriminate: health inequities at the intersection of race and disability

Front Rehabil Sci. 2023 Jul 6:4:1075775. doi: 10.3389/fresc.2023.1075775. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Brooke Dorsey Holliman^{1

2}, Michelle Stransky³, Nathalie Dieujuste^{2

4}, Megan Morris^{2

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Family Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, United States.
² Adult and Child Center for Health Outcomes Research and Delivery Science (ACCORDS), University of Colorado, Aurora, CO, United States.
³ Department of Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA, United States.
⁴ Department of Psychology, University of Denver, Denver, CO, United States.
⁵ Department of General Internal Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, United States.

Abstract

Objectives: Given the prevalence of discrimination experienced by racial and ethnic minorities living with disabilities, it is likely that racism experienced by Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) is compounded by the ableism experienced by people with disabilities, widening disparities in health and healthcare outcomes. To address this, we described unmet healthcare needs of a sample of Black, non-Hispanic, and Hispanic adults with and without disabilities. The following research question was examined exploratively: Are Black and Hispanic adults with disabilities at increased risk of unmet healthcare needs compared to Black and Hispanic adults without disabilities according to the 2018 National Health Interview Survey?

Methods: Survey data was examined from the 2018 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), a nationally representative survey of community-dwelling adults in the United States.

Results: Black and non-Hispanic adults most commonly reported mobility only disabilities. People with disabilities were significantly more likely to delay or forego care than their peers without disabilities within each racial/ethnic group. Among non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic adults, nearly 30% of people with disabilities forewent services due to cost compared to persons without disabilities.

Conclusions: Black and Hispanic adults with disabilities experience greater disparities in access to healthcare than Black and Hispanic adults without disabilities. Therefore, health disparities experienced by racial and ethnic minorities living with disabilities is likely influenced by the dual systemic factors of racism and ableism.

Keywords: BIPOC; disability; discrimination; disparities (health, racial); survey data.